Senate Bill No. 353

(By Senators Burdette, Mr. President, Plymale,

Minard, Sharpe, Ross, Schoonover, Helmick,

Anderson, Whitlow and Boley)

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[Introduced February 15, 1994;

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact section ten, article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting public indecency and indecent exposure; definitions; and criminal penalties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section ten, article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8B. SEXUAL OFFENSES.

§61-8B-10. Public indecency; indecent exposure; penalties.

(a) A person is guilty of public indecency when the person knowingly or intentionally, in a public place:
(1) Engages in sexual intercourse;
(2) Engages in deviate sexual conduct;
(3) Appears in a state of nudity; or
(4) Fondles his or her genitals or the genitals of another person.
(b) "Nudity" means the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a fully opaque covering, the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any part of the nipple, or the showing of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.
(c) A person is guilty of indecent exposure when the person, who, in a place other than a public place, with the intent to be seen by persons other than invitees and occupants of that place:
(1) Engages in sexual intercourse;
(2) Engages in deviate sexual conduct; or
(3) Fondles his or her genitals of the genitals of another person.
(d) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for not more than one year, or fined not more than five hundred dollars, or both.


NOTE: The purpose of the bill is to create the misdemeanor offenses of public indecency and indecent exposure and provide criminal penalties therefore.